Improvement in railroad signal-lights



J. PFEIFFER.

Switch Signal. Y No. 33,600. Patented Oct. 29, 1861.

PH A

X3? //v vim/Mk! UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JACOB PFEIFFER, OF NIAGARA FALLS, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN RAILROAD SIGNAL-LIGHTS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 33,600, dated October 29, 1861.

T0 at whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JACOB PFEIFFER, of Niagara Falls, in the State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Mode of Attaching and 'Working Signal-Lights to Railroad- Switches; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and an exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

The nature of my invention consists in attaching to railroad-switches an apparatus which will Work a signal-light, showing the engineer of an approaching train the position of the switch in the night.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will now proceed to describe its construct-ion and operation.

It consists of a reciprocating lever 03 as shown in Figure 1, operating upon the horizontal lever h, which raises or lowers the staff or fork s 8, upon which is placed a frame having colored glass Z set in, and is raised or lowered by the motion'of the staff or fork s s, the frame and glass Z working inside of a common lamp-box B, placed upon a post 0, the whole being operated by attaching one end of the reciprocating lever r to the ordinary connection-rod a, which moves the rails of the track by means of the lever W, so that it will show a colored light or a white light at the pleasure of the operator.

Fig. 2 (perspective) represents the frame and colored glass Zthrown up above the opening n, so that the white light would only be visible if the lamp-box B were not shown as being open. The simplicity of this arrangement, the non-liability of its getting out of order, and the effectiveness of its operation accomplish the desideratuln long sought for.

Having thus described my apparatus, 1 shall now state my claim as follows:

That I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is

The herein-described mode of attaching and working signal-lights for railroadswitches by means of the combination of the two levers h and r, upright staff or fork s s, and frame for colored glass Z, Working substantially as set forth, and for the purpose specified.

JACOB PFEIFFER. [L. s.]

Witnesses:

LEwIs HARMANY, JAs. T. BRUNDAGE. 

